Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses Emile's Durkheim's theory of the division of labor. The paper also compares Durkheim's theory to that of Karl Marx. The paper further discusses Durkheim's concern with the social implications of increased specialization.

From the Paper:

"Nowadays, students have to choose between different academic disciplines: maybe one student prefers to be a psychologist rather than a physician. And then once the student has decided on psychology, he must choose, for example, to be a psychology major, as opposed to a physician major. Further more, there are even different categories within disciplines: social psychology, organizational psychology, clinical psychology, educational psychology etc., each with its own concepts, terminology and methods. As in many other areas of activity, the division of labor in modern academia was a necessary phenomenon in the modern society given the the economic and social conditions of the modern world, when the aim of education is to prepare students for different specializations and then, through working, interdependence and collaboration is necessary in order to reach the goal and obtain the wanted results. Durkheim's theory division of labor depicts the fact that in a society based on the members' dissimilarity, co-operation is essential and, finally, this is what characterises modern society. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Clyde Hudgins, Clyde, Richards, Michael. G. Individual, Family and Community: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Contemporary Life. Introduction. http://www.accd.edu/sac/interdis/2370/intro.html
• Comparative Political Systems. Lecture #2 - Theoretical Antecedents - Marx, Weber, & Durkheim. www.towson.edu/~roberts/339/A02marx.doc
• Durkheim, Emile. The Division of Labor in Society Translated by George Simpson. New York: The Free Press, 1933
• Grabb, Edward G. Theories of Social Inequality: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives, second edition, Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1990
• Sociology 318. http: //uregina.ca/~ gingrich/318o2302.htm

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